Shopping Smart

As we are in full swing of the holiday shopping season while still in a global pandemic there are ways to participate and be smart about it. Make sure to shop smart and make your money go much further and in some cases get a good portion of your money back in the form of rewards. Discounts, rewards, cash back rebates, and timing all play a part in shopping smart.

Discounts are the first way to shop smart. Besides prices being reduced providing a discount to everyone some people are due a discount because of some sort of affiliation. Popular categories of discounts that are available are military, student, first responders, AAA, etcetera; the amounts can vary between 10 - 20% which can be pretty substantial. Many websites allow your status to be verified through their websites via different companies like ID.Me and SheerID. Both of these companies are able to verify your eligibility and allow you to use the discount immediately. I have used both systems and it is a piece of cake. Most times the discount can be used on everything but there can be some exclusions. Just be careful to read the fine print to maximize your buying power. Sometimes one may not have access to any of the discounts that are offered or the retailers may not offer any discounts this is when rewards come into play.

Many retailers offer a reward program for their frequent shoppers. Retailers like Macy's, Target, Meijer, Jewel, and a whole slew of others. The point is to have you come back and accumulate their "points" so you can use them on the new purchase. Sometimes you can earn a dollar amount you can redeem at some point, other times you are rewarded a coupon, and even still you can earn gift cards. Either way the point is to give the consumer incentive to come back and shop there instead of somewhere else. The rewards programs are referred to as the loyalty programs because the consumer is rewarded for their loyalty to the brand/store. These rewards may take a little longer to accumulate depending on the type of retailer and merchandise, so another way to shop smart is to shop where you can get a cash back rebate.

One can accumulate cash back in many ways. Many times a credit or debit card can offer cash back rewards/rebates. Other times a third party can offer the cash back rebate. These rewards can be combined if one has access to both types. For instance the cash back rewards from a credit or debit card are typically a certain percentage and can be different depending on the type of merchandise being purchased. Then a third party like Ibotta or Rakuten offer cash back rebates based on the retailer or item. With the correct planning one can maximize the cash back and can pay for whatever purchase with accumulated rewards. For example, I place orders for home delivery from Meijer quite frequently. When I shop at Meijer I check Ibotta for rebates on the items I need and I check Rakuten to see if there is a cash back rebate for shopping at Meijer. Whichever is most beneficial is how I proceed to shop. Once I am done, I get an update from whichever rebate service letting me know how much cash back I earned. Once the cash back balance reaches a certain threshold($20 or $5 respectively) you can either choose to withdraw the funds or there will be a transfer or check sent to you. I can use my Capital One card to pay for the transaction and earn cash back from the card on top of the cash back from the third party. This cash back can be redeemed whenever and however I choose as long as it is according to the rules of the card.

The shopping cycle is still pretty predicable even during the pandemic. This is the time where a lot of merchandise is discounted and there are black Friday deals, Veteran's day deals and discounts, after Christmas clearances, semi-annual sales, etc. By taking a look at the deals in comparison to your planned purchases, you can see if there is an opportunity to use a discount on top of a reduced price and get cash back. All of these methods used together can make you a smarter shopper by spending less on those things you need/want to buy. As always keep an eye on your purchases to see if the price reduces within about 30 days or so because you can call or visit the merchant for a price adjustment if the price is dropped.

Now if you are in the place where you can save with all of these methods then you can choose what to do with your saving and cash back. Maybe you can use it to donate to charity, or vacation, or for a rainy day fund. Whatever you choose shopping smarter is a benefit all around and being charitable is good for the soul as well.

My Rakuten referral code is: https://www.rakuten.com/r/AGENTR119?eeid=44753 (current promotion is $40)

My Ibotta referral link is: https://www.rakuten.com/r/AGENTR119?eeid=44753